Our little guy is two!

A year later and I'm back!  Oh this sweet, sweet boy... now two years old!  No longer our baby, but still just as precious.  I know all too well how quickly I'll forget the fun details of these years, and can hopefully take a few minutes here to preserve a few for Peter. 

We had a fun-filled Mickey Mouse themed birthday party for Peter (and Daddy!), as he loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Followed a few days later with a family trip to Disney World, and it was quite the Mickey celebration!  Peter loves candles (which he calls "ah-boo," since that's the sound you make to blow them out) and was thrilled when he successfully blew out his #2 candle.  His cheerleader sisters were a big help!  How they love him so...  I really cannot adequately express what a remarkable gift he is to all of us.  Peter is such a happy, friendly, easy, loving kid.  He really is all of the wonderful parts of childhood without the challenges that usually come along, and as a parent I'm trying to soak up every moment. He easily gives kisses, hugs, cleans up messes (he does not like a "mine," his word for mess), asks for snuggles, and goes to bed easily.  He is so easy-going and rarely gets upset as a toddler usually does.  He loves his sisters "Nenna, Bibby, Marmee, and Dada."  :)  He calls Winnie "Mom" because that's what I call her, and gets a laugh every time.  He loves music and easily picks up on songs we sing or play to him, and melts my heart when he quietly sings along to my lullabies as I rock him to sleep.  He is a busy guy these days and loves playing with water, cars, blocks, the toy kitchen, and drawing/coloring.  Of course despite a house overflowing with toys he often finds amusement elsewhere, like in pushing all of the circuit breaker buttons on our outlets.  He's not the best at playing alone yet and would much rather have a sister or mommy with him.  As a result I'm not getting a lot done around the house, but I know these days are fleeting and try to appreciate them with my little buddy.

Peter, we thank God every day for you!  Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

 

Peter is ONE!

Okay, he's actually 14 months now, but time is flying by so quickly that it's all I can do to keep up!  Our little guy is getting bigger and bigger, and I'm already dreading the day that he isn't a baby anymore.  We had a fun-filled joint birthday party for Peter and his birthday buddy daddy, with a firefighter theme (what else??).  Planning a party for a kiddo AND a spouse was quite a challenge (especially since Joe was out of town all weekend), and I'm hoping that it gets a bit easier with practice!  But still so much fun and so special to celebrate our two guys together...  The girls were looking forward to it just as much as Christmas, it seemed!

How we love our little Peter.  He was taking steps by his first birthday and was full-on walking on January 31.  He is starting to talk a bit and says "Da da," "ball," "bubble," "snack," and "uh-oh," along with some animal sounds and signs.  He also says "hiiiii-eeee" in greeting both family and strangers, which is just the cutest ever.  He waves bye-bye and blows kisses with an enthusiastic "MUAH," which is a first for our babies.  So cute!  Another favorite sound that he's been saying for awhile is "uh-UH" in the same tone as the opening notes of "Look Down" from Les Mis.  Needless to say we are singing a lot of Jean Valjean these days as a result.  Lately he's taken to using it when he greets Daddy, so we've dubbed it his "man call."  Hilarious.  He loves tickles and belly kisses and we love hearing his adorable laughter -- Peter has the sweetest laugh and we've all agreed that it's our favorite sound in the world.

Our little man is definitely getting more active by the day, and my productivity around the house has taken a nosedive as a result.  Ah, the toddler years!  He LOVES being outside, and his favorite activities are splashing in puddles and throwing balls down the driveway.  He loves playing "ball" with Daddy and will repeat "Ball! Ball!" over and over until he has one in hand.  Inside he loves playing in the running bath water with a toothbrush, playing "hide the thermometer" underneath the pillows on our bed, and getting into the snack cabinet in the kitchen.  I find myself looking forward to his naptimes a bit more these days!

Peter has always been a decent sleeper but is now consistently sleeping through the night.  It's pretty amazing (dare I say miraculous?) that after 10+ years of babies, toddlers, and kids up at night for a variety of reasons, Joe and I are finally consistently getting a full night's sleep.  Peter goes down fairly easily as well, though lately he has started to prefer that we rock him all the way to sleep at night, which can take awhile.  Still, I am trying to cherish those precious moments with my sleeping baby boy in my arms.  How I'm trying to live it all up, knowing how fast these babies grow.  He has been such a blessing to our family.  What a wonderful, sweet little boy we have, and how much we all love him!!

Here is another photo dump of our little man at 1+ years old:

Six Months!

Well, I blinked and now Peter is six months old!!  What a joy these last six months have been with this precious little guy in our lives.  I'm still pretty blown away at what an incredible gift he is.  As a newborn Peter was a bit on the fussy side, which I attribute to tummy troubles...  around 6 weeks he mellowed out completely and has been such an easy baby ever since.  Since the beginning he has loved his carseat, which has been HUGE.  He'd fall asleep so easily in the carseat that soon I didn't even have to drive him around to put him to sleep -- I'd just plop him in his carseat and he was out.  It has made travel so easy, especially in the first few months when he didn't need to be on a schedule.  A train trip to Kansas City at 2 months and a moms' trip to Austin at 3 months did not phase him (or me!) in the slightest, and he handled long road trips over the summer to Wisconsin and Colorado like a champ.  As for sleep, other than a rough period around 4-5 months, he has been fairly predictable as well, only waking once or twice a night and falling right back to sleep after nursing.  I'll take it!  He started solids around five months and has LOVED every bite we've offered him.  He could be our biggest eater soon!

Peter has a mellow, go-with-the flow demeanor and is forever patient with four big sisters constantly showering him with love.  I am so thankful for his temperament, as I've learned that that's one area that we have zero control over as parents!  We'll see if it continues as he grows...  He is sweet and smiley, loving tickles from Daddy, reading books, playing peek-a-boo, and laughing at his sisters.  He certainly loves his Mommy and melts my heart on a regular basis...  I love his huge, mouth-wide-open grin, which looks so much like some of his Sustar cousins'.  I'm just trying to soak up his babyhood as much as possible, as it's going by way too quickly.

Enjoy this huge photo dump of our precious boy's first 6 months! ;)

2018: New Year, New Family!

Look who's back!  I know, it's been about 18 months since my last post...  Time flies when you're busy with four growing kiddos!  If you're still reading this, I'm impressed.  I've obviously dropped blogging from my life, but had to return for awhile at least to document our newest family member: Peter Thornton Sustar!  Yes, we have a new baby BOY!  It's true, it's true!  I've had so many thoughts these past few months as we've anticipated his arrival, and so many thoughts since, and just had to get them down somewhere.  So here I am.  Plus, I've done an okay job documenting the girls' babyhoods here, and figure this is as close as they're going to get to a baby book (at least for a long long while), so I hope to do the same for Peter.

So...  five kids.  I never, ever thought I'd have FIVE!  Three or four, sure, but five is getting into the BIG family territory.  But then you have the babies you plan on having, and you realize how much joy they bring (despite the challenges), and you're about to turn 40, and the clock is ticking, and well, you figure why not one more?  And here we are with our healthy newborn son, doing it all over again, and all I can think is "this was meant to be."  Such an incredible gift.

As in previous pregnancies, my pregnancy with Peter was fairly smooth and uneventful (probably another reason why I keep having babies!).  There were definitely signs that my body is aging, but all in all it was a time to cherish.  The last 6 weeks or so were probably the most uncomfortable of my pregnancies, however -- contracting all the time, waking every hour from hip and pelvic pain, just general discomfort.  Plus I was having more anxiety this time around about the upcoming birth...  Not so much worrying about something going wrong (all of my previous births were very smooth), but just getting through the pain of it all.  I'd always done natural births, and after four babies I figured I had nothing left to prove!  At least I knew it would likely be a quick delivery.  There was also the question of when it would happen, as I had to factor in the possibility that Joe would be at work when I went into labor, someone would need to watch the girls when I went to the hospital, etc.  Just a lot of unknowns.  The baby's due date was on January 15th, and when I started having regular contractions the evening of the 14th, I was thrilled the baby might arrive ON TIME instead of late like its older sisters.  Joe and I went in, spent the morning at the hospital, but it was not meant to be...  I was only 3.5 cm and not progressing.  We spent a lovely evening at a nearby hotel just in case (our last "baby moon," it turned out!), and returned home.  Waiting resumed.  Joe's birthday, January 20th, was approaching, and of course we'd all talked about how much fun it would be for the baby to share a birthday with his/her daddy.  I didn't actually think it would happen, so I was so excited when I woke up at 2:30am that morning and my water had broken -- the baby was coming, no guessing as to whether or not "this was it!"  Joe was getting a baby for his birthday!  No need to figure out childcare, no need for Joe to miss extra work (it was a Saturday morning)... it was absolutely perfect timing.  And the blessings continued, as I had another quick labor (not pain-free, but I got through it!) and Joe got to announce that we had a baby BOY!!  A son for a birthday present!  We'd waited until the birth to find out girl/boy, and what a surprise it was.  Even now, weeks later, it's overwhelming to me how it all worked out just as perfectly as possible.

Peter Thornton Sustar was born at 5:02am on January 20th, weighing in at 9lbs 7oz (!!) and measuring 21.5 inches long.  Winnie brought his big sisters to visit as soon as she could, and they were overjoyed to meet their new brother.  It's been hard to keep them away ever since -- Peter is one well-loved baby boy!  He definitely resembles his older siblings...  Margaret the most, I think.  At 3 weeks old he's already well over 10 lbs and could be a big boy!  His nighttime sleeping has been nice and predictable, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll be our best sleeper yet.  He loves being swaddled and hates diaper changes.  He's fairly mellow during the brief periods that he's awake -- we'll see if that temperament lasts!  Overall it's just such a gift and a joy to have a baby again, especially since Peter is in many ways our "bonus baby" that I never thought we'd have.  I'm just trying to soak up every moment.  I've had older friends comment on the unique joy of having a baby when you're over age 40, and I would have to agree -- as a seasoned mom with older kids, you have a bit more time with the little one and a lot less stress over whether or not you're doing it right.  So yes, go ahead and have another! ;)

Here are a few photos of our first days with baby Peter:

Margaret turns Four

Wow... our little Margaret is four.  Such a big girl age all of a sudden!  Margaret continues to be sweet (with a splash of sass!) and is often quietly enjoying her own little world.  Margaret's biggest love at the moment has to be coloring -- she is constantly asking me to print her out a coloring page (though we have multiple coloring books around the house!), and could color all day long.  She's getting quite skilled in that area, though will quickly lose her cool over the slightest mistake -- something we're working on!  She also loves sticker books, playing in the sand, and puzzles.  I've realized lately that I really need to stock up on some more challenging puzzles around the house, as Margaret has mastered all of the floor puzzles we own.  She has a light, twirliness in her step.  She refuses to wear shorts -- only dresses or skirts, thank you.  She still prefers to be snuggled to sleep at night and will often ask, "Mommy, could you please tell me a short story from when you were a little girl?" before drifting off to sleep.  I love her hugs and when she declares, "Mommy, I really really really really love you!"  How I try to soak up these precious little girl moments. :)  Her lifelong love of letters has now transformed into a love of reading, as she has surprised us all by sounding out words at age 3.  Three mornings a week of preschool was a big change for her this past year and she kept to herself for awhile, but loved it.  It didn't take her long to write her own name at school, despite its length.  It'll be fun to see what this year has in store as she joins her big sisters at Blessed Sacrament.  We're so proud of you, little Margaret Rose!  Happy Birthday!

Caroline is TWO!

Happy 2nd birthday to our Caroline Jo!  What a great kiddo this girl is.  What I'd like to remember from this fun (but busy!) time in her life:

- For many months now, Caroline has struck me as a little grown-up.  She just seems to get things that I don't remember her sisters grasping at this age.  She'll wet her diaper, for example, and proceed to take it off, climb up on the changing table, grab a diaper and a wipe, and lie there until I arrive to change her.  She'll clean up her sisters' messes without prompting.  She can do an entire load of laundry, short of measuring out the detergent, including switching it to the dryer and turning that on as well.  She continues to go down for bedtime fairly easily, and once I sing the last song of the night she'll simply say, "bye!"  She has already started asking to potty train and I predict she'll be the quickest to learn of the four.  She is very aware of what toys in the household are hers, and is understandably possessive of them -- don't even think of touching her pink tricycle, for example.  Anything new she receives (which is a rarity for girl #4) will be happily greeted with "a NEW one!".  "Yay!" is one of her favorite phrases -- she has such a happy, enthusiastic personality.  She's fairly busy and social and isn't as prone to playing by herself or sitting and listening to books as some of her older sisters, but she's slowly improving in those areas.  Her favorite books currently are anything in the "Good Dog Carl" series.  She loves pointing out the moon and the mailman, and has an affinity for dogs.  Her terrible twos are starting to come out and she can certainly get hot-headed at times, but with a little discussion about her behavior she will readily say "sorry," "are you okay?" or "o-tay, Mommy."  How I love that "o-tay."  Of course she loves her big sisters and does her best to try to keep up with all they're doing.  They certainly love her back!  One of their favorite games to play (which Caroline does best) is "I don't like you, Mommy...  I LOVE you!"  So cute.  The fun continues and I'm trying to soak up every moment!  What a joy you are, little Caroline Jo.  Happy Birthday to you!

Still Here...

I'm still here!  I haven't given up on the blog yet, and now that summer's here (aka Birthday Season in the Sustar house) I will hopefully get some annual kiddo updates posted soon.  Until then, I wanted to post a little iMovie project I recently completed for Joe for Father's Day.  It turned out fairly well, I think!  And yes, I was in tears pretty much the entire time I was making it. ;)

To view, click here: Father's Day 2016